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Location Strawberry Res.
Date. Wed. 8/22/25
Time. 7:15 A.M.
Forgot to put in the drain plug. Ran boat up into the mud ashore. I was laying on the back of the boat hanging over the transom. I slid head first into the lake.
I spent next 2 hrs fishing with no pants on. Finally it warmed up enough that I figured I could put my wet pants on. When we got home at 6 P.M. my feet were still wet in my shoes.
Air temp. was 37 degrees 15 minutes earlier when we got to the lake.
Up until the laws were changed about drain plugs, I always left ours in. When they required us to remove drain plugs while in transit, I started putting the ignition key in a cup holder as a reminder about installing the plug, when I went to start the boat. I guess this year I had gotten out of the habit. Just as a side note when we loaded the boat the key got put in the cup holder.
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I know how you feel. I forgot mine once, two years ago. Had my wife, mother, daughter and grandsons in the boat. We started off from the dock, got about 1/4 mile out when daughter says, "There is water coming into the boat."
I immediately knew what happened. Flipped on the bilge pump and headed for the dock at top speed.
Once docked, I gave the plug to my 12 year old grandson. He jumped in and plugged the hole.
Now I am extra careful.
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Yesterday, 01:53 AM
(This post was last modified: Yesterday, 01:57 AM by BURLEY.)
I launched at Willard south this morning. Ran over to look at the work being done in the southwest corner. By the time that I put out the 2nd rod, I noticed my feet were wet. Yep, forgot the plug. Turned on bilge pump and headed back across to the marina. Backed the boat up to the bank with the motor up. Stepped out in 18 inches of water to put the plug in. 20 minutes later, the bilge was empty. I really hate the new law of removing the plug. I went back out for another 2 hours without a bite trolling cranks.
Good fishing to all. Hue
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No, it's an expansion plug. You couldn't use this with a threaded plug because the cable passes through the drain hole.
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Yesterday, 04:00 PM
(This post was last modified: Yesterday, 04:02 PM by RockyRaab2.)
That's almost as smart as the Lund plug, good sir. Kudos.
(But keep a spare in case some gas station moron thinks stealing that one is funny.)
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All I could think when reading your posts, was thank heaven the bilge pump worked! It is something you don't use often, or test if you are me. Don't like to run it dry so I guess turning it on for a few seconds to at least hear it run has to suffice.
I have a little different story. I use a centering plastic pieces on the mercury steering rams to keep the motor centered while transporting. Once I launched the boat by backing off the trailer and tried to steer to the dock. Could not turn the wheel and panicked for a few seconds before realizing that I hadn't removed the centering pieces from the steering arms.
Lesson, if it is something that can be overlooked or forgotten, sooner or later it will bite you. All seems to be part of having a boat.
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Old Coot and his detailed checklists don't seem so silly, do they?
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Yesterday, 06:22 PM
(This post was last modified: Yesterday, 06:25 PM by BURLEY.)
Tracker claims that the boat will stay afloat even when full of water. That is something that I don't want to find out. Rocky, I do carry a spare. I used to carry 2, but I gave one away to a newbie boat owner who launched on the snake river without his.
Good fishing to all. Hue
![[Image: 20250823-084726-2.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/JtH4Y2zW/20250823-084726-2.jpg)
